


Dream Thief

by DragonSorceress22



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Fluff, Get-Together Fic, M/M, Makeouts, One Shot, i don't know where this came from, slightly supernatural AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8560129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSorceress22/pseuds/DragonSorceress22
Summary: “This is going to sound like a cheesy pickup line, but… would you believe me if I said you told me in a dream?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a frustration fic in every sense of the term (in that I needed to write it to vent frustrations and that it frustrated the hell out of me along the way). Enjoy!
> 
> Beta’d by [solomonara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/solomonara/pseuds/solomonara/works) and thank goodness for that. Otherwise, you’d all be drowning in ellipses (like, even more than you already will be) and also possibly in social faux pas… Hooray for betas!
> 
> Also, can't wait to see how badly I fucked up the formatting of all these text messages... even after completely stealing [solomonara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/solomonara/pseuds/solomonara/works)'s style. (With permission. Because I'm bad at stealing.)

Kaito was born a dream thief.

It wasn’t something he could control; he just… slipped through the dreams of strangers in his sleep. And he resented the title since there was certainly no stealing involved. Chikage, who had explained these things to him as a child, only ever laughed when he complained about it.

And then, one unremarkable night a few months after he’d struck out on his own and left his mother to her traveling, Kaito slipped through the dreams of Kudou Shinichi.

And the next night.

And the next.

Kaito already knew it was unusual to encounter the same person’s dreams even just twice (Nakamori Aoko’s being the only exception he could recall), let alone two or three times _in a row_. Again, Chikage had only laughed when he’d told her his concerns.

“Do you really think ‘normal’ applies to anything you do, Kaito?” she’d said with a knowing smile. Knowing, but not _telling_. As usual.

 

Soon, Kaito came to expect it. Every night, he dreamed with Kudou Shinichi and then, suddenly, Kudou Shinichi was dreaming with _him_.

As a dream thief, Kaito had never had dreams of his own. There were whispered rumors among witches that that trait was what put dream thieves just this side of insane. But now…

Now, Kaito woke feeling _refreshed_. Revitalized.

But he’d stolen Kudou Shinichi’s dreams.

 

A week into this turn of events, Kaito’s dreams started to reflect his concerns as well as an earnest desire to meet Shinichi. He’d imagine himself running into Shinichi by chance somewhere and talking with him, maybe getting a drink together. Just… getting to know him, and getting to see that Shinichi was fine. That the loss – the _theft_ – of his dreams hadn’t affected him. That Kaito hadn’t done him harm, even though Chikage had assured him that was surely not the case and that those who resonate with a dream thief still dream separately from them the rest of the time.

Kaito still worried.

 

*

 

For the seventh night in a row, Shinichi woke from a bizarrely vivid dream. Staring up at the dark ceiling, he dragged a hand through his hair and let out a quiet sigh.

 _Kuroba Kaito…_ he thought.

The dreams always started out the same: he’d find himself at a coffee shop in Shibuya and that guy would be there. He’d introduce himself and buy him coffee and they’d talk, though it was about something different every night.

He was starting to feel like he _knew_ this person. And he was starting to miss him when he wasn’t in his dreams.

He started frequenting the Shibuya coffee shop.

 

It wasn’t until another week later that Shinichi saw him, and when he did he stopped and stared. The literal man of his dreams was sitting at a small table by the windows of the coffee shop, cheek propped on a hand and gaze resting on the view of the city street out the window. As Shinichi watched, the man let out a wistful little sigh and absently lifted his cup to his lips.

He almost dropped it when he abruptly recognized the faint reflection of Shinichi in the window.

Kaito turned sharply in his seat and his eyes locked with Shinichi’s. For a full minute the two of them didn’t move and the other patrons of the shop started to take notice. Then Kaito jolted to his feet, stumbling a little over the legs of his chair in his hurry to get to Shinichi.

“You–” Shinichi choked out as Kaito stopped in front of him. His voice sounded pitifully weak and he swallowed hard before trying again. “Are you–?”

“Kuroba Kaito,” Kaito said, and it was little more than a whisper. “And you’re Kudou Shinichi.”

“And how… How do you know that?” Part of him was hoping he’d say from the news.

Kaito looked slightly abashed, eyes on the floor and arms pulling in just a little. “This is gonna sound like a cheesy pickup line,” he said. “But… would you believe me if I said you told me in a dream?”

“Then _this_ isn’t one, right?” Shinichi insisted and Kaito looked up again at the desperation in his voice. Another part of Shinichi was wondering if his dreams had simply gotten _more_ vivid, and the thought of waking up now was a sharp ache in his chest. “I’m awake, right?” he tried again. His breath stopped, caught between a sigh and a gasp when Kaito nodded. “I can’t believe you’re real.”

“I… I’d like to explain. Um…” He glanced around at the people still eyeing them. “Would you mind taking a walk with me?”

Shinichi considered the man in front of him. Everything about him was familiar – his voice and face, his mannerisms. But the most striking thing was the careful concern Shinichi could read on him. In his dreams they’d never talked of anything consequential, just trading simple questions and anecdotes and laughter. But always, this man, Kuroba Kaito, would look at Shinichi like his heart was breaking. Shinichi’s fingers moved a little absently over his dart watch as he nodded.

“Yeah. I think that would be okay.”

 

Shinichi left his first real meeting with Kuroba Kaito wondering if one or both of them needed to seek help from a mental health professional. At the same time, he couldn’t deny the evidence of having dreamed of someone he’d never met, then finding that that stranger not only existed but also knew each moment of what Shinichi had dreamed.

That night, he couldn’t sleep. He lay there awake, his brain churning with the events of the day and an unreasonable anxiety over what he would dream.

Eventually he rolled over and took his phone from the nightstand. Kaito had seemed extremely conscious of the fact that Shinichi didn’t reliably know anything about him. He’d given Shinichi his phone number but had insisted that Shinichi not provide his own.

“I just… I’m as confused about some of this stuff as you so I just want you to be able to contact me. If you want.”

That was what he’d said, but Shinichi knew what he’d meant. He was clearly still worried he might somehow hurt Shinichi. At first, in the coffee shop, Shinichi had seen that concern in the worst light – the light of the too-many murders committed by well-meaning but obsessive acquaintances who thought they were entitled to more. After speaking with Kaito at length though, Shinichi had come to the conclusion that what Kaito truly feared was being the cause of harm to _anyone_. That was something Shinichi could understand.

Slowly, he tapped out a text.

 

Kaito was tossing in a restless half-sleep when his phone let out a chirp. It pulled him easily back to consciousness and he was reaching for it before he’d even opened his eyes. It chirped once more before he managed to focus on the too-bright screen.

_> > Hey Kuroba. It’s Kudou._

_> > Are you okay?_

 

Kaito shoved himself upright and swallowed hard, typing back with fumbling fingers.

 

_Am I okay?? Did something <<_

_happen? Are YOU okay??_

 

There was a distressing pause, then his phone buzzed again.

>> _I’m fine. Can’t sleep – just thinking_

_about stuff – but I wasn’t sure if that_

_would affect you_

Kaito stared. “You–” The word jumped from his throat and his hands were shaking as he typed back.

 

_You’re worried about ME. I’m the reason <<_

_this is happening. You get that, right?_

Shinichi’s replies came in quick succession.

 

_> > There aren’t any victims here, Kuroba._

_> > I’m trying to keep it that way._

_> > I mean that you seem really stressed_

_about this and I don’t want you to be._

There was a short pause and Kaito was about to respond when another set of texts came through.

 

_> > I’m sorry. That probably sounded weird._

_> > I don’t think you’re going to hurt me._

_> > I just meant I don’t want you to worry_

_yourself sick or something._

_> > You just seem really concerned._

Kaito let out a slightly hysteric little laugh.

_You’re a really good guy, Kudou. <<_

Then, after a little deliberation, he added,

_Thanks for not hating me. <<_

_> > Idiot_

_> > We’re friends by now, aren’t we?_

Stunned again, Kaito nearly dropped his phone. Then, all at once, he was hurrying to type back.

_Yes! <<_

_I mean that would be really great. <<_

_I mean yes. <<_

He stared down at his responses numbly for the handful of seconds it took for Shinichi to respond.

_> > Heh, let’s go with yes._

 

“Wait,” Kaito murmured. “Wait, do I… _like_ him?” He felt his heartbeat pick up as he considered the concern that Shinichi hadn’t been mistaken about, the knowing smirks his mother had been taunting him with, and the flustered responses staring back at him on his phone. Then he considered all the dreams that, in a more normal context, might have been considered… _dates_. “Oh shit.”

And then a far more horrifying thought occurred to him: Shinichi was _attractive_. And they were sharing dreams that were driven by Kaito’s subconscious.

Eyes painfully wide and imagination carefully turned _off_ , Kaito continued to stare blankly at his phone. Eventually, he typed out,

_I can’t sleep tonight either. <<_

He found himself smiling giddily at Shinichi’s response a few seconds later.

 

>> _Guess we’ll have to keep each other_

_company the boring, normal-people way._

 

At daybreak, a few texts after Shinichi had warned that if he stopped answering he’d probably fallen asleep, Kaito shot out of bed and over to his laptop.

Chikage answered the video call in no time. She took one look at him through her webcam and sighed. “Not sleeping isn’t going to help anything, Kaito,” she said. “I’ve told you a dozen times, you’re not–”

“I love him!” Kaito blurted out, gripping the edge of his desk hard. “And I’ve met him. And he’s just–” He leaned in a little closer and whispered at his screen, “What if I… _dream about him_? You know what I mean?!” He didn’t have much first-hand experience in dreaming his own dreams – the shift from dreaming Shinichi’s to dreaming his own had only happened three weeks ago, and two weeks of that had been entirely consumed by his focus on _meeting_ Shinichi. Now that he _had_ …

“You’ve met him?” Chikage said, blinking unhelpfully at him. “How?”

“I kept dreaming about running into him at a coffee shop so one day I went there and… he was there.”

Chikage’s smile was warm. “Oh, Kaito. I always knew you had incredible luck, but that really is something. And?” she pressed, leaning in toward her screen with her fingers laced under her chin. “He’s perfectly fine, isn’t he. Didn’t I say so?”

“He’s better than _fine_ ,” Kaito muttered. He pushed a hand through his exceptionally bedraggled hair and shifted a little in his desk chair, eyes darting around his bedroom.

“Kaito,” Chikage said firmly, drawing his attention back to the screen. “When you were dreaming with other people, did you maintain your freedom of choice?”

“Well, yeah–” he started.

“And when you were dreaming with Kudou-kun, before the shift, did you have freedom of choice?”

“Of course, but–”

“And so far has Kudou-kun acted of his own free will in _your_ dreams?”

“…Yes,” Kaito said, and it sounded a little uncertain but he was thinking of everything he and Shinichi had talked about on their walk yesterday afternoon. Everything they’d talked about in the dreams had been real, not something Kaito had made up. Shinichi had chosen to say everything he’d said. “Yes,” he said again, firmly.

“Then what makes you think you could have any sort of dream Kudou-kun wouldn’t be okay with?”

“Is there, like, a guidebook for this stuff?” Kaito sighed and Chikage laughed.

“Who has the time?” she said with a grin. “Now get some sleep, Kaito. I love you.”

Kaito smiled a little, slumping in his chair. “Yeah, okay. Love you, Kaa-san.” He rolled his eyes as Chikage blew a kiss at the camera before her screen went black and he shut the laptop’s lid.

Crawling back into bed, Kaito pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and turned onto his side, poking his phone screen to life just to glance over the last few texts again with a little smile.

His eyes fell closed and Shinichi was there, waiting.

 

*

 

Shinichi hadn’t told Hattori or Ran about the dreams – he knew all it would get him was a round of merciless teasing from Hattori and a few pitying looks from Ran. He didn’t need anyone to tell him he was lonely, and for a while he’d convinced himself that that was all those particular dreams amounted to.

Now that he’d actually met Kaito, though, he didn’t want to keep quiet.

“I met someone–” Shinichi started over after-lunch coffee and Ran cut him off with a gasp.

“Is it serious? Tell me everything.”

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you,” Shinichi groused.

“Only a little. Go ahead though. Tell me.”

“Okay,” Shinichi said. “He’s–”

Ran’s slow, thorough blink was somehow as halting as if she’d loudly cleared her throat.

“ _What_?” Shinichi demanded.

“Nothing.” And she seemed to mean it, too. She had no idea why he’d stopped. He was used to that though. It was rare for other people to keep up with whatever his brain liked to do in the background without his permission during perfectly normal conversations.

“Anyway,” Shinichi hedged. “He’s… a lot of fun. We get along really well.”

“Where’d you meet him?” Ran asked, leaning in a little.

“Just, um, at a coffee shop,” Shinichi said, trying to keep eye contact so that it wouldn’t look like he was lying. He ended up staring too hard at Ran’s face and she smirked, reading right through him.

“Is that so?” she practically purred. “And? You two have been getting together a lot lately?”

Her tone was clearly expectant, but Shinichi’s eyebrows pulled down in genuine confusion. “Well, not really. We meet for coffee now and then, but mostly we just text.” _And share impossible, life-changing dreams…_ He locked his eyes on his hands this time, folded around his tall, narrow coffee cup.

“…I don’t think I understand,” Ran finally said.

Shinichi looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean… You like this guy, right?” she asked, and her cheeks had flushed just a little.

“Yeah…?” Shinichi answered slowly.

Ran gave a put-upon sigh, but the blush hadn’t faded so she was likely just putting up a brave front. “I mean you _really like_ him, Shinichi. You don’t start the conversation with ‘I met someone’ for a new friend you occasionally chat with.” She focused on stirring sugar into her coffee. “And you keep sort of skirting around things like how you met and what you do together so I was just wondering if… you’d maybe already gone further. Which is fine,” she hurried to add, looking up at him, earnest. “But then you say you hardly meet in person and that sounded like the truth and you’re usually really easy to read, Shinichi, you are, so I’m confused about what’s really going on.”

“Uh…”

Shinichi’s brain had stalled somewhere around ‘already gone further.’ _Already_ , like it was inevitable, and _gone further_ , as in…

Shinichi’s face went red.

“Noooow I’m getting it,” Ran said with a grin. “Okay. So you haven’t yet, but you _want_ to,” she teased.

“I–!” Shinichi ducked his head, his whole face and neck unbearably hot. “I can’t be thinking about _that_!” he hissed, suddenly terrified to go to sleep tonight. One hand moved unconsciously to his jacket pocket and his fingertips rapped nervously against the phone there. Would it be totally obvious to ask Kaito how much of Shinichi’s dreams he could see?

“Oh _please_ text him right now,” Ran whined. “You should. You really should.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re thinking about him!”

Shinichi’s eyes shifted down to his pocket for a few seconds. Then he pulled out the phone and conceded. _He’d had to ask his mom if I was even still_ having _dreams without him,_ he told himself as he turned on the screen. Their text conversation was already pulled up and Ran was smiling widely at him across the table. _I’m sure… I’m sure it’s fine. I don’t need to ask him._ He was about to text something vague and inconsequential when a thought occurred to him. _But Kaito said he’d never had dreams of his own before… all this. So do I see all of_ his _dreams?_ His finger stalled over the screen. _That’s not… really fair._

Determined, he set to typing and held his breath as he sent out, _“Are you really okay with me seeing your dreams?”_ absent of any greeting or context.

Ran’s eyebrows pulled down, watching the intense look on Shinichi’s face as he stared at the phone and waited for an answer. She sat still, afraid the movement of lifting her cup would snap him out of it. This was way too fascinating to ruin now.

The phone buzzed.

 

_What are you talking about? I wouldn’t <<_

_even HAVE dreams if not for you._

Shinichi’s lips tightened.

 

_> > Yeah but that stuff’s usually_

_private, you know?_

 

His heart raced in the pause, eyes riveted to the screen, and when Kaito answered it was with four quick texts in a row.

 

_I never really thought <<_

_about it until recently._

_All the stuff I’d see in people’s <<_

_dreams was always really ordinary._

_Kaa-san told me nothing in dreams can <<_

_happen without permission so maybe_

_that’s why but I was worried._

_Glad I’m not the only one <<_

_thinking about this stuff._

There was no reason for Shinichi to feel more at ease – Kaito hadn’t really answered his question but somehow he felt steadier knowing that he and Kaito were figuring these things out together.

 

_> > I don’t suppose there’s an instruction_

_manual for all this?_

_LOL that’s what I said! <<_

 

Shinichi grinned, bright and unreserved, and Ran finally let out a sigh. She was smiling, her face cupped in her hands with her elbows on the table, and Shinichi hadn’t forgotten she was there but he _had_ allowed himself to get a little caught up.

“There,” he said, tucking the phone away. “Are you happy now?”

“I’d be happier if I could see what’s got you grinning,” she hinted and Shinichi flushed again. Ran’s mouth dropped open a little.

“No!” he said quickly. He fumbled to pull out his phone again and glanced over the screen. Only the last three messages were visible above the keyboard and none of them mentioned dreams so he turned the phone to show Ran. “Look.”

Ran read the texts and her lips pressed tighter together even as her eyes brightened. “Oh, Shinichi,” she said. “I’m sure the two of you can figure it out. You can’t get _everything_ from books.”

Startled, Shinichi pulled the phone back and re-read the texts again. “What are you–?” He stopped, considered the messages out of their context, then put them into where Ran’s mind clearly was. The phone knocked against his forehead when he tried to cover his face with both hands. “That’s not what we’re talking about!” he said through his palms with muffled insistence.

Ran just smiled and sipped her coffee.

 

*

 

“Why do you keep doing that?”

It was a good three months later and Kaito was pacing back and forth on his hands across the Kudou library, watching upside down as Shinichi tapped at his phone.

“Hm? Doing what?” Shinichi muttered. He finished typing and looked up, then remembered where Kaito’s head currently was and looked down again to find his eyes. If he lingered just a little on Kaito’s exposed abs along the way, neither commented.

“Sometimes when we’re talking you zone out for a couple seconds then type something in your phone,” Kaito clarified. “It’s not a text. What is it?”

“Oh. Here, you wanna see?” Shinichi held out the phone and Kaito tucked into a ridiculously fluid roll, coming to his feet beside Shinichi’s armchair. He took the phone and poked at the screen.

“You’re… taking notes on me,” Kaito said, and he was doing that thing again where he’d go all shuttered and neutral. Shinichi rolled his eyes.

“Quit worrying. I’m not gonna dissect you, and you know I’m too paranoid to let anyone else near my phone. Besides, it just looks like I’ve got a wild imagination.”

“But what are they _for_?” Kaito asked, handing the phone back.

Shinichi shrugged unhelpfully. “Just for me. So I don’t have to keep asking you things. This dream thief stuff’s a lot more complicated when you haven’t grown up knowing about it, you know?”

There was a twist to Kaito’s lips that said he didn’t quite buy that, but then Shinichi hopped out of his seat and grabbed Kaito’s hand and Kaito’s train of thought derailed violently.

“It’s almost four!” Shinichi said, yanking Kaito out of the library and toward the nearest TV. “The Christmas special of _Detective Samonji_ is about to start!”

Kaito laughed out loud and squeezed Shinichi’s hand tight as he rushed after him. When they tumbled onto the couch and Shinichi sprawled himself across Kaito’s chest to reach the remote on the opposite end table, Kaito impulsively wrapped his arms around him to keep him there.

Shinichi clicked on the TV and stayed put just exactly where Kaito had caught him, his eyes intent on the screen, and for the first five minutes Kaito wondered if Shinichi was just that distracted by the show. Then, during the first commercial break, Shinichi glanced up, smiling, and Kaito spent the rest of the hour content as he combed his fingers through Shinichi’s hair.

 

That night, they dreamed of another world where they played the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Arsène Lupin, and both were grinning when they woke.

But then they found themselves alone in their own beds however many miles apart, both reaching for their phones reflexively though never typing out the words they really wanted to.

 

*

 

“It’s not any of your business!” Kaito shouted. It didn’t faze Shinichi at all.

“You said ‘a stage accident, I guess.’ _I guess._ I know you, Kaito, there was obviously more to it. Of course I looked into it.”

“And it was just like I said, wasn’t it? He messed up and it got him and his assistant killed. Just a stupid mistake–”

“He didn’t mess up!” Shinichi was shouting now too, and he was glad they were at his house instead of Kaito’s apartment where the neighbors might interrupt. “Why do you keep forcing that when you don’t really believe it?”

“Because I’m pissed, Shinichi, okay? Because I need someone to blame! Because I couldn’t let go but it didn’t matter because he was _gone_ and growing up without him sucked.” He was starting to lose steam a little and Shinichi instinctively moved to put himself between Kaito and the door because he knew Kaito well enough to know that he’d run from the subject soon if Shinichi let him. “And just calling it an accident… It’s too… pointless.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Shinichi insisted, and Kaito looked up – met Shinichi’s eyes for the first time since Shinichi had brought this up. “You _know_ that. He didn’t make a mistake, he didn’t mess up, and it wasn’t an accident. It was sabotage.”

Kaito let out a breath – a laugh or a scoff or maybe even a sob. “That’s… What are you talking about. Who would–”

He cut himself off when Shinichi reached out and took his hand. “I want you to hear me out. And keep an open mind.”

He was staring into Kaito’s eyes and Kaito let out another shaky huff. “Well, you listened to a lunatic magician talk about walking through people’s dreams,” he murmured, and Shinichi smiled just a little and led him to the couch.

 

*

 

_I mentioned dad maybe being <<_

_an actual thief and she said she_

_was getting on a plane. I think_

_you might be on to something._

_> > I’m sorry_

_Don’t be stupid. <<_

 

Shinichi stared at his phone, at a loss, but a few minutes later it buzzed again.

_Shinichi… thank you. <<_

*

“I want to help stop them.”

Shinichi let out a shout and fell out of his bed. Kaito was crouched in the frame of his open second-story window. Shinichi wondered where the screen had gone.

“Sorry,” Kaito said, climbing into the room and offering his hand to Shinichi who was staring up at him from the floor, his blanket still twisted around one leg. Shinichi took his hand and let Kaito pull him to his feet.

“You’re talking about that organization, aren’t you.”

“You said you were going to stop them. I want to help.”

“Yeah, but Kaito–”

“I have a plan.” He swung a backpack around from his back to show Shinichi. “Hear me out.”

His face was set and serious and Shinichi hardly hesitated. He nodded and Kaito sat down right there on Shinichi’s bedroom floor, Shinichi across from him in his pajamas, and they plotted to tackle the most dangerous case of Shinichi’s life.

 

*

 

Kaitou KID lived again for a month and six days, and when he vanished it was on the heels of the largest mass arrest Tokyo had ever seen. And on that very same night, an emboldened thief swept into Kudou Shinichi’s bedroom and kissed him, so desperate and so deep that they both trembled with the force of it.

“Let me stay,” Kaito breathed out.

Shinichi held tighter in answer and caught his lips again – caught Kaito’s whimper of relief and fed him a contented sigh in return.

It was on both of their minds but neither said it. Instead, they gave into rationalizations – the timing wasn’t right, it was too soon, they were both strung out and exhausted from their unexpectedly successful plan. So while a few pieces of clothing still hit the floor and hands and lips still roamed, they didn’t go further that night.

Still, it was on their minds. So after Shinichi finally fell asleep with his back pressed close against Kaito’s chest, Kaito lay wide awake just to keep from dreaming.

 _This isn’t fair,_ he thought as he nuzzled a pouty kiss against Shinichi’s skin. _The more I try not to think about it, the more I_ do _._ He folded himself a little more fully around Shinichi, fingertips pressing then trailing, keeping to safe spaces like Shinichi’s arms and hands.

He could feel the rhythm of Shinichi’s soft, even breathing and it was slowly starting to lure Kaito closer to sleep. He tried to ignore it, though. Tried to keep his mind active so he wouldn’t give in. Then Shinichi shifted slightly in his arms.

“–to…” he murmured into the pillow.

“Hm?” Kaito responded on reflex.

Shinichi was quiet for a while but then his fingers curled a little, his hand turning to find Kaito’s and wrap loosely around it. “Kaito… Where…? Nn…”

For a moment, Kaito’s breath stopped. “There’s just _nothing_ fair about you,” he eventually whispered, squeezing Shinichi’s hand. He stared over Shinichi’s shoulder at his face, not quite relaxed in his sleep as he continued to mutter incoherent half-words. Kaito took a deep breath. “Okay,” he sighed. “Okay, just… don’t blame me if…” He let out a huff, warm air ruffling the wild hairs at the back of Shinichi’s neck and Shinichi mumbled his name again. Kaito snuggled closer and closed his eyes.

 

“There was no problem at all!” Kaito whined at his computer.

“Of course there wasn’t, Kaito. I _did_ try to tell you,” Chikage replied. “The dreams are driven by your subconscious, but as long as Kudou-kun is in them too you’re not going to just drop into an uncontrollable situation. The only way something like what you’re thinking could happen is if you and Kudou-kun _make_ it happen.” She was wearing that sharp-edged smirk again, like that wasn’t the whole story, but Kaito had already given up.

“So, bottom line, I _don’t_ need to worry about… _inappropriate_ dreams with Shinichi.”

“No, you don’t need to worry,” Chikage answered and Kaito let out a long and drawn out sigh, folding over on the desk.

 

That night, now lacking the filter of concern as much as he lacked any other filter in his dreams, Kaito drew Shinichi in and met only encouragement. Dreams weren’t reality – it wasn’t the same – but they were still there together, making their own choices, and having Shinichi willingly wrapped up in Kaito’s arms still meant just as much. And each touch still felt just as good.

“Shinichi…” The name was drawn from Kaito’s lungs with every other breath, even muffled and slurred by Shinichi’s own mouth, teeth catching Kaito’s lower lip. They both were always a little more honest, a little more fearless about what they wanted when they met under the protective veil of unreality and Kaito moaned as he rushed to press closer.

At some point, Kaito’s hand had snuck under Shinichi’s shirt, firm and warm on the small of Shinichi’s back. He was still surprised each time Shinichi let him explore his skin, and still surprised at the solid strength he found when he did. It was captivating to look at Kudou Shinichi as a theorist and an intellectual – the parts of him that had drawn Kaito into his dreams and kept him there, he realized now – but then explore his body and find a soccer player… and a survivor.

Kaito’s fingertips stuttered over the round little scar on Shinichi’s back. Apparently he’d been shot once, the bullet passing clean through and leaving deadly damage in its wake. But Shinichi had survived.

Shinichi didn’t ever seem to notice if Kaito gave particular attention to his scars. Now was no exception. His hand was behind Kaito’s neck, gently pressing to tip Kaito’s head in just the right way so that Shinichi could bear down on him and sneak his tongue between Kaito’s lips. Kaito let out a quiet whimper as his knees went weak.

Suddenly, there was a bed behind him and Shinichi let Kaito drop back to sit on it before looming over him again, a knee on the mattress beside Kaito’s hip and both hands cupping Kaito’s face as he kissed him. Kaito immediately reached out for something to hold on to and landed on Shinichi’s hips, too far away now in their current position. His fingers reflexively curled, catching and tugging Shinichi by his belt loops and Shinichi broke their kiss to regain his balance before he could wind up sitting on Kaito.

“What–?” Shinichi started to ask, breathless, at the same time Kaito panted, “I want you.”

Shinichi stared, looking down into Kaito’s eyes for a heavy few moments before he pushed forward again, hand firm on Kaito’s chest telling him to lie back. Kaito did, and Shinichi bracketed him in on his hands and knees, his face shadowed from the dim light somewhere above them as he considered Kaito. Then he dipped down, his nose pressed to Kaito’s cheek and his lips moving against the corner of Kaito’s mouth as he murmured, “I–”

Kaito _jolted_ awake and for a moment he couldn’t move. His pulse was raging through every single inch of him – like his veins were solid with the force of the flowing blood and it pinned him there while he stared helplessly into the dark. After a long half minute, it started to ease.

And then his phone was ringing.

“Shinichi–!” Kaito gasped, flailing a little to get himself up off his back and snatch the phone from the nightstand. “Shinichi–” he said again as he answered.

“What the hell was that?” Shinichi shot back – not angry or judging, just… scared. His voice was shaking.

“I’m sorry,” Kaito stammered. “I’m sorry, I don’t know. Um…” He looked around his room at a loss then looked down at his shaking hand. They hadn’t just woken up – something had forced them out of the dream.

Kaito blinked, refocusing his eyes at the sound of Shinichi’s voice in his ear. “Do you… or… Can I come over?”

Kaito was tumbling out of his bed and reaching for a change of clothes even as he answered, “No. No, you stay where you are.” His whole body was trembling a little, but he wasn’t sure anymore if it was from whatever had happened or from the memory of the dream that was slowly coming back to him. He swallowed hard and swept his tongue over dry lips. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

There was a quiet pause and Kaito finally managed to button his pants and throw on a jacket. Then Shinichi said quietly, “Everything’s fine, Kaito. Nothing happened. We’re both fine.”

“We don’t _know_ what happened,” Kaito replied instantly and he was sure now that the shaking wasn’t from any physical effect. He stopped on his way to the door and took a slow deep breath, then another. The tremors died down. “I don’t like that I can’t control this. I don’t like not knowing what we’re dealing with. I don’t like that I’m putting you at risk–”

“You’re not,” Shinichi said firmly. “There would be much worse rumors about dream thieves if any of them had ever harmed someone like that. Your parents–”

“My old man’s dead,” Kaito said flatly.

“Murdered,” Shinichi replied. “Your mom didn’t have anything to do with it. Not… You know what I mean.”

“But–”

“Shut up and get over here. I’m gonna hang up. I’m sure you want to call her.”

 

Kaito sank to the floor under Shinichi’s bedroom window and wrenched off his shoes. Then a pair of pajama pants hit him in the face. “Hey–!”

“What’d she say?” Shinichi offered his hand to Kaito and they both held tight as he hauled him up. Then Shinichi was pulling Kaito’s shirt off over his head.

“Um,” Kaito murmured, raising his arms to allow it but still a little mystified. “Sh-She… She laughed.”

“See? What did I tell you? Everything’s fine, isn’t it.” He tossed Kaito’s shirt over the desk chair and flopped onto the bed, calling Kaito over with a pointed nod.

Kaito turned away, helplessly and inexplicably flustered, to change into the pants Shinichi had thrown at him. Then he crawled into the bed and Shinichi pulled him close. “I guess so?” Kaito murmured against his shoulder. Shinichi certainly _seemed_ fine, and the more time passed since the bizarre… _fit_ , the less alarming it seemed. He snuggled closer.

For what felt like a long while, they lay there holding on to each other, wide awake in the silence. When Shinichi finally spoke, his voice was loud in his chest against Kaito’s ear, though the words came out in just a murmur above Kaito’s head.

“Kaito, why are you so worried about hurting me?”

Kaito closed his eyes. He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. “Should I not be?”

“You haven’t yet.”

“But _new_ things keep happening.” He tucked his face against Shinichi’s neck. “Stuff I can’t predict and that I don’t understand and can’t explain.”

“But your mom can.”

“Maybe,” Kaito said quickly. “Sometimes I feel like she can relate, but others… I feel like she tells me everything’s fine then goes off to research whatever happened, to make sure.”

“Research?” Shinichi murmured and Kaito already knew Shinichi had tried to do the same more than once before but had come up empty.

“She knows a lot of weird people. Travels a lot, you know? Collects useful acquaintances.” He pinched a fold of the blanket underneath them and tugged at it a little. “Old habit, I think, from Phantom Lady’s days.”

“Why have you always assumed the worst though? Where does that come from?”

“Shinichi…”

“I want to know.”

Kaito breathed a sigh into the hollow of Shinichi’s throat. “Dream thieves… are rare,” he began softly. “And I don’t know why. It’s a genetic trait – that’s what my old man said, anyway – and it doesn’t even take two dream thieves to make another one.” He flicked his wrist a little between their chests to indicate himself.

“Then there’s the secrecy,” he continued. “And the rumors. Even witches are wary of us, so what does _that_ mean.” He drew in a long breath.

“Most of all,” Kaito said. “It’s what we _do_. What _I_ do. It’s not like I ask permission to wander through somebody’s dreams. Through their mind. Maybe it’s not stealing, but if you ask me, it’s trespassing.” Something subtle about Shinichi shifted and Kaito added with the ghost of a smirk, “I’m not talking about something superficial like breaking and entering or jewel theft. I end up in a person’s unguarded subconscious and it feels so _fragile_.

“I never used to think all that much about it. When it was a different stranger every night I never really thought I could cause any kind of damage. Certainly not without intent. But now…” His hand spread flat over Shinichi’s heart. “What if it was my own greed that pulled me into your mind time after time? And then my greed that pulled _you_ into _mine_. What happens if it goes a step further?” He’d dropped down to a whisper. “What happens next?”

Kaito flinched then shuddered at the imagined image of Shinichi lying in a hospital bed, blank and distant, the light of his eyes – of his mind – shut away behind unfluttering lids. He tried so hard not to picture that because what if he dreamed it? What if he dreamed that Shinichi was in a coma because of him and Shinichi, being pulled into his dreams, succumbed? Self-fulfilling prophesy, right? There were too many ways he might misstep – too little he understood.

Shinichi’s fingertips pressed deep into Kaito’s bare back. “My mind isn’t that fragile, Kaito.” His voice was unyielding. It drove into Kaito and set in his chest like an anchor. “It can’t be, with the amount of murder I see.”

“Your mind,” Kaito breathed out. “Is _luminous_.”

A shiver ran through Shinichi, and Kaito raised his head to see Shinichi’s skin going a subtle shade darker in the lamplight.

“Hmm~?” A grin cut across Kaito’s face. “Surely I’ve mentioned that.”

“Not… that, exactly,” Shinichi murmured.

“My apologies.” He let his voice drop into the smooth tones he’d adopted for the KID persona. It somehow gave him more confidence. “How can I make it up to you, Tantei-kun?”

They were still lying staggered in the bed, Shinichi looking down into Kaito’s eyes, dark in the low light and heated with intent. Then he glanced unconsciously to Kaito’s lips and they turned up in a smirk.

“I see~” was all Kaito said, and then he’d pushed himself the small distance up the bed and locked his lips to Shinichi’s. Immediately Shinichi’s arms tightened around him and some small, helpless noise rose in Shinichi’s throat. Kaito breathed it in and scrambled for more, fingers firm at the back of Shinichi’s neck. His other hand was up the back of Shinichi’s shirt where he could feel Shinichi’s breaths go short and quick when Kaito’s tongue swept teasingly light over his own. Then Kaito was drawing away and Shinichi couldn’t even protest because the wet kisses under his jaw stole his breath just as completely. He let his head tip back and both hands landed in Kaito’s hair, cupping the back of his head and neck to hold him in place despite the embarrassment Shinichi could feel heating his own face. At least Kaito wouldn’t see, like this.

“This is in the way,” Kaito murmured when his kisses made it to Shinichi’s shoulder. His tongue dipped briefly under the collar of Shinichi’s shirt before he caught it in his teeth and tugged just a little. The laugh Shinichi let out was very subtly unsteady. Kaito drew back to find his eyes. “May I?” he purred, hands slipping down Shinichi’s back to catch the hem of the shirt. Shinichi nodded mutely and the shirt was gone in an instant, Kaito pressed up against him again and those distracting lips back at his neck.

“What’s wrong, Shinichi?” Kaito whispered a few kisses later when he’d won another whimper. “You were much more… insistent before.” He hesitated, barely noticeable. “It really is different after all, isn’t it.”

“Kaito–” Shinichi gasped at the sudden pressure of teeth under his ear. Kaito’s hands were set against his lower back and his body, already jump-started from their dream, was quick to respond to Kaito’s every touch. His heart was racing, his breath coming in short pants above Kaito’s head, and he had to hold himself back from pressing himself harder against Kaito’s hips. “Kaito, I think I know what… what happened… with that dream…”

Kaito pulled back slow, lips catching on Shinichi’s skin then leaving it cold and wet. Shinichi’s next breath left him with another shuddering whimper but at least Kaito was out of breath too.

“What do you mean?” he asked slowly. The fear was back in his eyes and it made Shinichi’s chest ache.

“The dream,” Shinichi said again. His brain was slow to focus, piecing itself back together now that Kaito’s mouth, his lips, his tongue weren’t… “In the dream, we were, um, we were about to take this further and I think that’s why we woke up.”

“What?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” The words were rushing a little now. “I mean as far as biology goes. If dream thieves could get… _that_ – get everything they needed from that and never have to bother with the physical act of having sex, they’d have gone extinct a long time ago. If you think about how evolution works and the traits that are selected for, that reaction–”

“Shinichi, shut up,” Kaito cut in, but it wasn’t scolding or harsh. His eyes were distant and Shinichi could almost see the thoughts rushing behind them. “So you… you think that we woke up because _biology_ – _my_ biology – would have preferred us to actually be making babies instead.” He was red from neck to ears. “Little problem with that. I’m gay. Or bi maybe; I don’t actually know. But–” He waved his hand to indicate Shinichi, head to foot. “That’s not really gonna work.”

“But as far as I can tell, dream thieves are mostly human, just with a few… quirks,” Shinichi insisted. “It makes as much sense as _any_ person wanting that kind of same-sex interaction. As higher thinking animals, we don’t choose mates based on evolutionary qualities anymore – not exclusively – but that doesn’t mean biological urges don’t still exist. Maybe it’s just vestigial at that point but I mean…” He swallowed and his eyes raked down Kaito’s chest and quickly up again, lingering at his lips. “I can definitely vouch for the insistence of those biological urges in me, even though having sex with you is sure as hell not gonna continue my genetic line.

“And,” he added suddenly, making Kaito start. “Isn’t it possible that that’s why there seem to be so few dream thieves? Given what I’ve seen of your mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if dream thieves have been functioning on a whole other level for a long time, and focused on the individual rather than the progression of the species, ignoring biological insistence and–”

“Can you please stop? You’re freaking me out!”

“What? Oh, sorry, just… What I’m saying is I don’t think any of this is weird, Kaito. Well, maybe it’s weird in the grand scheme of things, but it’s par for the course for any human, you know? So just… I don’t think you should worry.”

Kaito let out a breath and Shinichi, one hand still behind Kaito’s neck, could feel his pulse racing at his fingertips. “You just… You just hypothesized an entire species’ evolutionary history in, like, a second.”

“Actually, now that I think about it, I sort of misspoke. Dream thieves _aren’t_ a different species. They can’t be, because they can reproduce with humans and the resulting offspring can also reproduce. We’re the same species, so if that was a concern for you, you don’t have to worry about that either.”

“… _Now_ that you think about it? What the hell do you call what you were doing _before_?”

“Um–”

Shinichi didn’t get the chance to finish. Kaito’s tongue was in his mouth and his thoughts fell to pieces again, into a vague and sparkling mess in his head, and he let his body take over.

Kaito’s hands were flat on his chest and they slowly worked over his skin even as Kaito systematically tempted Shinichi’s tongue out and into his own mouth. Shinichi’s fingers tensed on the back of Kaito’s neck and Kaito moaned, tipping his head back and allowing Shinichi to take over. Without thought, Shinichi pushed Kaito onto his back and rolled with him, pinning him with his body. They gasped into each other at the friction between their hips.

Shinichi was the first to catch his breath, curling his tongue over his already slick lips. “These are in the way,” he just barely managed, voice rough. His fingers were hooked and tugging on the waistband of the pajama pants he’d thrown at Kaito.

“Y-Yeah,” Kaito agreed. “I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna _argue_ –” His voice was lost in Shinichi’s mouth again and he let out a giddy little laugh when Shinichi broke away just a few seconds later.

“Sorry,” he breathed over him. “You just– You look…”

Kaito grinned. “If it’s anything like how you look right now, I think I get it.”

Shinichi’s eyes trailed down Kaito’s chest again, his fingers still playing against Kaito’s hip. “…Can I?”

“Only if yours go too,” Kaito said, wiggling his eyebrows. Shinichi suddenly folded down on top of him, laughing. “Is this how this is gonna go?” Kaito asked, but he was laughing too and he couldn’t stop. “I think we were better at this in the dream.”

“Shut up!” Shinichi’s face was hidden against Kaito’s chest and he was still shaking with laughter, warm on Kaito’s skin. “Okay, for real, the pants need to go.”

“You sure you can handle it~?”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Picked up on that, huh?”

“You are ridiculous!” He pushed a hand into Kaito’s face. “Stop it with the eyebrows!”

Kaito just grinned and managed to catch the fleshy heel of Shinichi’s palm between his teeth, teasing skin with the tip of his tongue. Shinichi flinched back, sitting up a little, and Kaito drew in a quick breath, his lips parting and his eyes falling closed at the added pressure on his hips. He caught himself quickly though and snapped back to attention, looking up at Shinichi like he wasn’t sure what he’d see.

Shinichi was grinning. “I like that face you just made. I wanna see more of that.”

Kaito went red and a little wide-eyed and Shinichi, practiced at reading him, could tell he was biting the inside of his lip, trying to get himself back in hand.

“Okay if I go first?” Shinichi asked, and then he was getting off the bed and shucking off his pants and underwear together. When he turned back, Kaito was staring. “Too much?” he asked with a smirk.

“Not nearly enough,” Kaito breathed out, and Shinichi reached out to stop him from getting up.

“I got it,” he murmured, and then he was on top of Kaito again, kissing down his chest as he slowly dragged his pants and underwear away. Then he moved back up, hovering over Kaito on his hands and knees. “Hi.”

Kaito let out a breathless laugh, eyes locked on Shinichi. “Hi,” he said. Then he reached up and pulled Shinichi down on top of him.

 

That night, Kaito dropped into deep, comfortable sleep to the feeling of Shinichi’s fingertips dragging a repetitive track over his side, from his ribs down to his hip and up again. When Shinichi followed, their dream was a warm, subdued thing filled with the soft scents of winter cafés, and low murmured words that never took form but were understood just the same.

 

*

 

“Kaito, I want to publish a book.”

Kaito turned very slowly and looked Shinichi up and down. “Have you… written a book?” he asked.

“No. But I’ve been taking notes.”

“…What.”

“I want to publish a book about dream thieves.”

“No, seriously, what are you talking about? You can’t–”

“Why not?”

“Nobody knows about us!”

“Exactly. You don’t even know about each other. Or about yourselves. It’s not going to be an exposé or anything–”

“You butchered that word. Stop being mean to French.”

Shinichi punched him in the arm. “I just think it would be a good idea to have this information out there for people like you to be able to read!”

“Then make a website! Something that only comes up if somebody’s really looking for it because they already know!”

“That’s… actually that’s a pretty good idea. Except–”

“What?”

“Well, have _you_ ever Googled dream thieves?”

Kaito was silent for a few moments. Then he pulled out his phone. “Books,” he murmured, his face heating a little. “Comics, games, movies, and what it might mean if you dream about a thief.”

“Also? You never even tried it before just now. You went to your mom. I think we need something that families can pass down, you know? And add their own notes to, if they want.”

“I still think a website could do all that.”

“Why not both?”

“Mostly because if the son of Kudou Yusaku publishes a book it’ll get _all kinds_ of attention, honestly.”

“And you don’t want that.”

“Well that… It’s _scary_ , Shinichi. I’ve never told _anybody_ about me. You and my mom are the only people who know.”

“No one else _is_ gonna know. Actual dream thieves will make the connections and the rest of the world will see it as fantasy. And anyone who does make the connections will probably assume _I’m_ a dream thief, not you.”

Kaito went white as a sheet. “Shinichi–”

“ _Nothing_ is going to happen, Kaito. Just think about it, okay?” He reached out and cupped his hand under Kaito’s – the one still holding his phone. “In the meantime, let’s take a closer look at what came up in the search. For all we know, somebody beat me to it.”

 

*

 

Two years later, an eleven-year-old girl appeared on Shinichi’s and Kaito’s doorstep. She was clutching a book to her chest and a young woman stood behind her with a protective hand on her shoulder.

“Uh, hi,” Kaito said at the door. Then he spotted the book and smiled a little, though his eyes flicked up to the woman, assessment quick and sharp like a pinprick. “Can I help you?”

“Um,” the girl mumbled, and the woman took over.

“She insisted on meeting Kudou-sensei. _I_ insisted that she not consort with a brash homicide detective alone. He’s bound to be a bad influence.”

Kaito let his eyes sharpen above the same disarming smile when he moved his focus from the girl to the woman. “I see. And how did you know to come _here_?”

“I tracked him down for her,” she said simply.

“Kaito?” Shinichi called from inside the house, and the woman looked Kaito up and down in the same flash of a second that Kaito used to evaluate her. Then Shinichi appeared at the door.

“Who is it–” He stopped short and Kaito reflexively moved to place himself a little more fully between Shinichi and the woman. He blinked, bewildered, when Shinichi just nudged him aside again. “Miyano?”

The woman didn’t smile. “You’re as pathetically bad at covering your tracks as ever, Kudou-kun,” she said.

“Yeah, well, hiding from reporters or fans isn’t quite the same as hiding from a crime syndicate. You wanna come in?”

“I should think so,” she answered, and now, finally, there was a hint of a smirk.

Shinichi brought them to the sitting room then went to the kitchen to make tea. Kaito followed.

“So you know her,” he said.

“Obviously,” Shinichi replied, smiling.

“And she’s…?”

“A turncoat from that organization you helped me bring down. She was a lot of help in the initial investigation.”

Kaito shivered. “No wonder she’s got such an unsettling vibe.”

“That might just be her personality,” Shinichi said with a smirk.

“And the little girl? Just a cover to get in to talk to you without suspicion? Do you think they’re on the move again? Did we miss some?”

Shinichi laughed through the steam rising from the electric kettle as he poured water out into four cups. “No, Kaito.” He set it down and slid a warm hand against Kaito’s cheek. “I think she’s here to see you.”

They brought the tea out to the sitting room and settled into the chairs across from the couch where the girl was fidgeting nervously, the book resting on her lap.

“So, Ayumi-chan, you read the book?” Shinichi asked.

“Mm hm.”

“And you have some questions, I bet.”

“Is–?” She cut herself off, glanced up at Miyano who was calmly sipping her tea and avoiding eye contact, then looked back across at Shinichi with new and sudden resolve. “Is all of this true?” she asked, hand flat across the powder blue cover of the book.

“Why do you ask?” Shinichi responded, sipping his own tea. He had one eye on Kaito who he could tell was hiding an increased heart rate behind an overly slack posture.

“We really going to play this game, Kudou?” Miyano said. “There are two vulnerabilities to be exposed here. Are you going to make Ayumi-chan the one to do it?”

Shinichi’s eyebrows rose but when he didn’t say anything Miyano let out a sigh. “Ayumi-chan, Kuroba-kun is like you. A dream walker.”

Ayumi let out a gasp, eyes rounding to lock on Kaito who had shrunken in a little, both hands pressing tight against the sides of his cup.

“Quick as ever,” Shinichi murmured, the picture of calm with his blazer and house slippers and armchair and tea. “When did you–?”

“When he opened the door,” Miyano said. “I knew from the start it wasn’t _you_. But it was someone you’re intimate with, which is obviously him.”

Shinichi’s cheeks colored then and he muttered something into his tea that sounded a little like “Shut up, idiot.”

“Well?” she demanded, looking to Kaito.

“Uh, I…” His eyes moved down to Ayumi who was watching him, mouth slightly open as though she’d never seen anything like him. He sighed. “I appreciate you using the new name, Miyano-san. We’re really hoping it catches on.”

“Is that a yes?” she shot back, glancing over her nails – an expensive-looking French manicure.

“You really don’t have any appreciation for subtlety, do you,” Kaito muttered. Miyano smiled and her eyes bore into him, insistent. “Okay, okay, yes, that’s me, dream walker, whatever.”

Ayumi was suddenly on her feet, the book wrapped up in her arms. “K-Kuroba-oniisan… Can you tell me more about the ancestry of dream walkers? What about the history? Do you know any other dream walkers? How do you know so much? Can we be friends? Have you ever day-walked?”

Shinichi and Kaito both drew back a little in their chairs, blinking at the sudden rush of words. “Uh…”

“Ayumi-chan is, of course, a dream walker,” Miyano said, lips curling at the edge of her cup. “But her parents are not. She’d been completely lost and alone and confused until your book.”

“Neither of your parents?” Shinichi asked, sharing a glance with Kaito.

“Is that a problem?” Miyano said.

Kaito breathed out a laugh. Then he stood and stepped around the coffee table, crouching on one knee in front of Ayumi. “Not at all,” he said with a grin. “It looks like we’ve still got a lot to learn~! What do you say, Ayumi-chan. Wanna figure it out together?”

Ayumi’s eyes sparkled under the sitting room lights, wide and a little wet and full of her beaming smile. She took his offered hand. “I’ll do my best!”  

 

 

The end

**Author's Note:**

> Guys. It was a year ago today that I started posting Fall into Flying, I really, really hope to start posting the sequel, Gravity, by May 28th (the day I posted the last chapter of FiF). I’m 18 chapters into Gravity and I’d call that 5/9 of the way in. I’m also moving (again) this week, so once that’s ( _finally_ ) over and done with, I hope to have a little more time to work on it too :) Wish me luck~!


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